Singapore legislation
Section 25
Section 25
Practising certificates
(1)
Every solicitor must, in every year before he or she does any act in the capacity of an advocate and solicitor, deliver or cause to be delivered to the Registrar an application for a practising certificate in such form and manner as the Registrar may require, the application to be accompanied by —
a declaration in writing stating —
his or her full name;
in a case where he or she is practising or intends to practise in a Singapore law practice, the name of the Singapore law practice in which he or she is or will be practising;
in a case where he or she is registered under section 36E to practise Singapore law, and is practising or intends to practise Singapore law, in a Joint Law Venture or its constituent foreign law practice, a Qualifying Foreign Law Practice or a licensed foreign law practice, the name of each Joint Law Venture and foreign law practice in which he or she is or will be practising;
the principal address, and every other address in Singapore, of each Singapore law practice, Joint Law Venture and foreign law practice in which he or she will be practising;
that he or she is not disqualified under section 26(1) from applying for a practising certificate; and
in a case where he or she is applying for a practising certificate to practise as a locum solicitor, that he or she is not disqualified under section 26(1A) from applying for such a practising certificate;
a declaration in writing stating —
that he or she has paid, or has made arrangements to pay, all subscriptions and levies, and all contributions to the Compensation Fund, lawfully due to the Society under sections 46 and 75;
that he or she has complied with or is exempt from the rules relating to professional indemnity made under section 75A;
if he or she has been ordered by the Council to pay any penalty under Part 7, that he or she has paid the penalty;
if he or she has been ordered by any court of law in Singapore or elsewhere to pay any sum to the Council or the Society, that he or she has paid the sum; and
that he or she has complied with such requirements as may be prescribed by the Council in any rules made under section 59(1)(aa);
a declaration in writing stating that he or she has paid, or has made arrangements to pay, all moneys, contributions and subscriptions payable by him or her under the Singapore Academy of Law Act 1988 and any rules made thereunder;
(ca)a declaration in writing in such form and containing such statements as may be prescribed by the Institute under section 10 for the purposes of this paragraph;
such accountant’s report as may be required under section 73 or a certificate from the Council stating that owing to the circumstances of his or her case such a report is unnecessary; and
the prescribed fee.
(2)
The Registrar must, subject to sections 25A, 25AA and 25B, thereupon issue to the solicitor a practising certificate authorising him or her to practise as an advocate and solicitor in Singapore.
(2A)
A practising certificate issued under subsection (2) does not authorise a solicitor to practise as a locum solicitor unless the practising certificate was issued pursuant to an application by the solicitor in accordance with any rules made under this section relating to practising certificates to practise as a locum solicitor.
(3)
Every practising certificate must be signed or approved by the Registrar and, subject to sections 26(9) and 27B, is in force from the date of issue to the end of the year.
(4)
Where the name of a solicitor is removed from or struck off the roll, the practising certificate (if any) of that solicitor for the time being in force expires immediately and the date of the expiry must be entered by the Registrar in the register of practitioners.
(5)
Every practising certificate issued in the month of April is deemed to have been in force from the first day of that month.
(6)
In this section, “year” means the period from 1 April in any calendar year to 31 March in the next calendar year.
(7)
Subject to the provisions of this Act, the Council may make rules regulating the issue of practising certificates, including (in relation to practising certificates to practise as locum solicitors) rules specifying all or any of the following:
any modification to subsection (1), including any provision requiring a solicitor applying for such a practising certificate to give any undertaking relating to his or her practice;
any condition that applies to such a practising certificate, including conditions relating to the handling of client’s money by the solicitor and the supervision of the solicitor;
any training that the solicitor must complete for the purposes of section 26(1A)(b) and the time within which the training must be completed.
(8)
Rules made by the Council under this section must be signed by the president of the Society and submitted to the Chief Justice, and come into operation upon the Chief Justice signifying his or her approval.